Dialogue of Civilizations in Milan on Heritage, Design, Innovation
Tucker Marion, associate professor of entrepreneurship and innovation group, jointly appointed in mechanical and industrial engineering, led a Dialogue of Civilizations in Milan, exploring the connection between heritage, design, and innovation. In this Q&A, he describes the study abroad summer course.
What inspired you to compress a 14-week course into just 14 days, and how did that intensity enhance the learning experience?
The Director for the Center for Design, Paolo Ciuccarelli, and I wanted to explore the connection between heritage, design, and innovation. So we put together a Dialog of Civilizations (DOC) to explore this. We based the DOC out of Milan, which is really the epicenter for design, heritage, and high-end brands and engineering. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Armani, Ducati, and many others are based there. Its tradition combined with advanced innovation. For the students, we wanted to give them the tools to create or expand high-end brands. In 2010 I launched ENTR3330, which is a course that combines design, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Over the semester students create and prototype new products and services. They use methods and tools to push as far as they can to develop working prototypes. For the DOC, we wanted to push the boundaries of what’s possible in design education—not just in what students can learn, but how fast and deeply they can apply it. Compressing the course forced us to eliminate the fluff and focus entirely on action, iteration, and real-time decision-making. To accomplish this, we integrated AI into each segment of the course. From using ChatGPT as a sparring partner for ideation to Vizcom for developing concept renderings. The intensity created urgency, which sharpened teamwork, creativity, and clarity. Students didn’t just learn design thinking—they lived it, day after day. The classroom time was augmented by visits which were designed to show real-world application of tools and methods. For example, at Accenture, we were exposed to a lab where AI is being used to reshape the retail experience for the future. And because they were immersed in with no distractions, the learning and project progress was amazing.
You mentioned fully integrating AI and cutting-edge tools throughout the design process. How did these technologies specifically accelerate or transform students’ work?
AI wasn’t just a side tool—it was embedded into the DNA of their design workflow. Tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Midjourney, Vizcom, and Ada IQ helped students rapidly prototype ideas, visualize concepts, and extract insight from raw customer feedback. What used to take days—like creating a moodboard and personas, refining product specs, or drafting UI flows—took hours or minutes. More importantly, it gave them the confidence to experiment and fail faster. AI removed the barriers between vision and execution. And it lowers the barriers to entry to accomplish excellent work. For example, students learned in real-time how to use Vizcom, which is an AI tool for creating product design renderings. Students became proficient in less than an hour. This is the future, and it’s essential that students be given the opportunity to integrate these tools into their suite of skills.
How did being in Milan, surrounded by design and innovation, impact the students’ creativity and problem-solving approaches?
Milan is a living case study in design heritage and future thinking. Walking through places like Lamborghini or frog design—and even just observing everyday fashion—sparked a kind of curiosity and ambition that can’t be taught in a classroom. It grounded their projects in context. Students saw how ideas become reality in world-class environments and came back to their own work with higher standards and sharper instincts. Over the course of two days, we went from seeing Leonardo da Vinche’s sketches of an autonomous vehicle (drawn in the late 1500s) to seeing autonomous vehicle driving simulators at Politcnico de Milano being used to help a major automotive company with driver interaction. There’s really nowhere else in the world where you could experience that.
From your perspective, how is this model of tech-forward, immersive learning preparing students for the future of work?
The future of work demands adaptability, speed, cross-functional thinking, and the ability to work creatively, and in parallel with AI. This course l delivers all of that. Students weren’t just learning frameworks, they were solving real problems under time pressure, using technology as a partner, not a shortcut. They walked away with tangible work and a real understanding of iterative design, and a sense of what it takes to deliver in fast-moving environments. That’s not just future-ready, it’s future-proofing their skill sets.
What did students take away from visiting companies like Lamborghini and frog, and how did those interactions influence their final prototypes?
There’s a power in seeing world-class design happen up close. At Lamborghini, students saw the balance between precision engineering and human craftsmanship. At frog, they experienced what it means to embed design into corporate strategy and culture. At Ferrari, they learned about brand and design DNA, and how the future and the past are intertwined. These visits reframed how students thought about detail, storytelling, and system-level thinking. You could literally see the shift in their work after those visits their concepts became bolder, more refined, and more human centered.
Anything else you’d like to share? Any moment or project where AI led to an unexpected insight or breakthrough?
One standout moment came from the OnElevé team, who used AI to prototype both a modular heel system and a 3D foot scanning app for a brand extension for the On shoe brand. What started as a fashion idea became a potential wearable tech product, all through rapid AI prototyping and scenario modeling. Another team used Midjourney and Figma to create a customer journey for a travel service that felt so polished, a visiting reviewer asked if it was a real startup. That blend of imagination and execution is the kind of breakthrough AI can unlock when used well. From a personal perspective, it was also great to see my academic research on using AI in product development being used in real-time to impact the classroom. That type of experiential learning is what Northeastern does best.
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